Late Christmas Post

I hope everyone had a spectacular Holiday(s). We had a nice quiet time at home during the day and visited our friends in the evening. Christmas morning Mike, Simba, Boo and I unwrapped gifts that Santa left under the tree. Simba, our yellow Lab, is so funny to watch unwrapping gifts. He tears into them, but it's gentle enough not to destroy the toy or treat under the paper. Boo, the black Lab, doesn't understand the unwrapping process...although he likes it when Simba unvails the gift. Macea (our cat) just freaks out with the comotion and watches from behind a piece of furniture. After opening gifts and eating breakfast, I took a nap for a couple of hours. Then Mike and I visited our friends and their newborn baby, Keira. I hope to have a photo of their family soon so I can post it along with my other friend Erin's newborn baby and family. Both little girl babies are absolutely beautiful! The photo above is of me opening up a small Christmas gift. When I look at the photo it reminds me of how thankful I am for the life Mike and I have. We're very fortunate to have a wonderful life and family. Nothing I would want to change! On another note: I was able to find Meet Me In St. Louis on the tube a couple of nights before Christmas. That made me very happy :)

New Goals

After much thought, I decided to try a few challanges for 2007. Due to the increased adoption wait time (about 2 years, if you haven't heard in the news...), I think focusing on a few things to keep me healthy will be fun. I don't expect to complete them 100%, but it will be fun to try. Some goals are health and habit related, while others are purely just fun! 8 yearly and 12 monthly challenges are listed at the bottom of the blog. I'll update it as each one is completed. If you're interested in joining a challange, let me know and we can do it together! I'll even post you on the blog and/or link.

Snowed In

It was so nice to log onto the blog and be reminded that we've been LID for one month now :) Way cool!

Due to the Holiday Blizzard of 2006, it looks like Mike and I will not be going back to Chicago to spend Christmas with family this year. We are totally bummed, but know that we are much safer. The interstates are still closed in areas and the weather will be sketchy in parts of the midwest tomorrow as well. A part of me wants to chance it, but Mike made a good point. He said, "If we had our child now, would we want to drive and put her/his life at risk by driving home"? Of course I said, "no". He replied, "Why should we put our life at risk then"? He's so right. I just love him so much.

To perk up our spirits we're going to head down to Colorado Springs on Saturday and do some fun things. We enjoy catching movies during the holiday season, so we'll probably catch a double feature and do something else. Also, the Fairplay community has a Christmas dinner every year. Maybe we'll join some friends and do that as well.

Several days ago we made some Christmas cookies (featured in photo). Aren't they cute! I just love making cookies. It reminds me of my childhood. My favorite part was decorating them..... still is. I was proud of myself this year because I didn't eat any leftover frosting (can you belive it mom?).

Thank you secret buddy!

I picked up a package today and was exctied to see it was from our Yahoo Chinese Adoption Group Secret Buddy. I waited until I got home to open it with Mike. We were so happy to see the perfect little snowsuit. It is soooo soft- one of the softest things I've ever felt. The size is just right (12 - 18 months) since we requested a child between the ages of 6 - 18 months. Our daughter or son will wear this often because it's cold here 8 months out of the year. Thank you secret buddy - you did great!

In other news...the outside walls are framed and the backfill is complete on the new house. The electric and wall sheathing will begin tomorrow. I just can't believe how fast this is taking compared to the last house. Mike and I have a friendly bet taking place. He thinks the home will be done by May and I think it will be completed in June. The loser owes the winner a homecooked dinner of his/her choice.......I wonder if Mike can cook Chinese????

Christmas Spirit

We' put up our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, but Christmas has really hit home this week. I went caroling with the Boys & Girls Club kids Thursday evening. Mike and I finished most of our Christmas shopping today and wrapped gifts this evening. Our little rental home has been filled with Christmas music, egg nog and holiday movies. Speaking of movies... isn't Meet Me In St. Louis, with Judy Garland, usually on during the holidays - I have yet to see it on any channel schedule. Mike is featured in the photo with our Christmas Tree (Englemann Spruce). You can't see it in the photo, but the tree still has a few cones on it.

I must say that I've fallen in love with China Sprout and Asian Kids. They have just the CUTEST things for very reasonable prices. What fun shopping. I'm anxious to see if our nieces and nephews will enjoy their Asian gifts as much as I enjoyed picking them out.

I caught some sort of flu bug the other day. As a result, I took the day off . I felt guilty not being at work, but my body needed the rest and I was ultimately glad I didn't go in. I don't think I would've lasted an hour anyway. My headache was just terrible and IBU or Tylenol barely made a difference. My stomach was quite upset and I actually got sick...don't you just hate that feeling? It has been a couple of years since my stomach has turned inside out. Part of me thinks I was dehydrated, but these symptoms seem to be going around.

Happy Home and Windy Weather

The new home is coming along. Mike is water proofing the foundation/crawl space today and the base of the first floor is almost done. So far, we've been lucky with the weather. It's a risk starting a home in the winter out here because we normally have more snow and freezing thawing weather. Due to La Nina - a dry cold winter is predicted until March, then we'll receive large amounts of wet snow. This is normal to me because we always get the most snow in April/March, but we should expect extreme conditions compared to the "normal". Poor Mike and the framing crew, they've been working in teens to single digits this week with 20 - 30 mile per hour winds. So frigid!!! Posted is a photo before the framing started this week. The house will be about 1,800 square feet. The perfect size for us and a family. There's also a perfect spot in the back for expansion, if we ever want to add another family room. It's been a very busy week - some ups and downs. We heard to expect an almost two year wait now for our little one. It breaks my heart to wait that long, but I've come to terms the past two days. I'm going to start a "to do" list of all the things I want to do before we have a family. Look for the list in about a week. Maybe someone will want to join in on a goal or two.

First Family Portrait

Isn't this artwork fabulous? It was a gift from Jessica, one of the most thoughtful members at the BG club. She gave this to me at our "Girls Night Out Slumber Party" this past Saturday. Aren't the tree, fireplace and stockings perfect for the holidays? Jessica LOVES babies and is almost as excited we are for our little one! Mike and I just love our first family portrait. I'm thinking about framing and hanging it in my office. Thanks Jessica! On another happy note, I discovered flannel pajamas! Oh my gosh, the soft cloth feels great against the skin and is so comfy to wear around the house The only downside is that pet hair tends to cling to flannel material, but it's not stopping me.

LID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At 4:25 today my husband called the club. (I work for the Boys & Girls Club of South Park). He sounded a bit sad and said he wasn't doing so well. He asked if I read the e-mail from Ashley (our contact for CAII)? After saying "no", his voice perked up and said that we are LID!!! I was thrilled from my head to my toes!!

The e-mail from our agency stated that our Log In Date is 11-21-06!! Mike and I are soooo happy! We were beginning to worry that our paperwork was misplaced in the Log In office or something else was wrong. You'll notice that the date was 2 1/2 weeks ago. This confirms that sometimes the communication is slow between China and the agencies.

Now that we're logged in, the "real" wait begins. We hope to receive a referral/match in 14 - 16 months. Some people predict this time period may lengthen to 20 months, while others think it might take a little less time. Only time will tell. We only hope that our travel time is BEFORE the 2008 olympics because travel might be extremely difficult (if at all) during this time. Wish us luck!

I also want to add that the youth I work with were awesome today. When I shared the good news with them, they were so happy for me. Several kids even gave me high fives and gave me hugs. They are the best!

Introduction

My husband and I are adopting from China. We were DTC (Document To China) on 10-20-06 and are currently waiting our LID (Log in Date). After almost six months of paperchasing...this past month seems to be taking FOREVER!!

I decided that keeping myself quite busy will "speed" along the wait....... Besides a full time job, building a new home (cut driveway pictured above) and swapping items with other waiting parents adopting from China, this will top the cake. I need an outlet to express my feelings, celebrate the good and bitch about the bad. What better way than a blog journal! I look forward to adding all the fun photos and stuff to make this blog funteresting (fun + interesting). I truly hope everyone will enjoy taking a peak into our day to day lives and sharing this special journey with us.